Actions(no)

Hun er lesbisk.

Present

The present tense is used to describe things that are happening or are true now:

Jeg leser nå. I am reading now.

The present tense is also in general statements that are independent of time:

Jorda er rund. The earth is round.

For things that repeat and that are still recurring:

Jeg sover hver natt. I sleep every night.

The present tense can be used to talk about the future as well, especially when it is certain:

Jeg reiser i morgen. I leave tomorrow.

As a rule of thumb, you can use the present tense where you would use either the present (I leave tomorrow.) or present progressive (I am leaving tomorrow.) tenses in English.

You do not have to worry about person or number when dealing with verbs in Norwegian, the verb stays the same. This is even simpler than English where you have to remember to add the -s in the third person singular in the present tense.

Forming the present is extremely easy, just add the suffix -r to the infinitive (the form you'll find in the dictionary).

The table below shows you how to do it:

Infinitive	Present	English Translation
å spise	spiser	eat(s), am/are/is eating
å drikke	drikker	drink(s), am/are/is drinking
å se	ser	see(s), am/are/is seeing

Sentences

Norwegian	English
jenta har ikke et eple	the girl doesn't have an apple
Mannen har ikke et barn	The man does not have a child
Hvem spiser?	who is eating?
Drikker du vann?	Are you drinking water?
Hva drikker dere?	What do you drink?
hva har hun?	What does she have?
Er du ikke glad?	Are you not happy?
Ser du noe?	Do you see something